Looks nice, simple to use and effective.I like the RGB LED too. I think it is much neater than having 3 seperate LEDs...

I like the programming card but not so sure about the eraser card. I suppose if you have a small number of people then it'll be good Smiley

Is there any way that if a person takes the outside box apart they can open the door? (Without the RFID tag that is), or is it only the antenna of the reader in the box? (and the LED)

I know the eraser card is not the best solution, but I had little other options I could thing of, and yes - the most cards ever added to the system will be about 10, so it wouldn't be too terrible to have to add them all back if I need to erase one.

Quote

What happens when power is out - can you still operate the door using a regular key with and without power?

this door is a back door so there is another exit, but being a back door, it must have a "panic bar" because it is a fire exit. In case of power failure, no one would need to enter this door and anyone inside would be able to "slam" it open.I was originally gonna put a big red "exit" button on the inside, but there was no reason for it as I have just stated.

Quote

At the very last of the movie, a box mounted on the wall inside is shown, and text saying that it houses the arduino.

So I guess that it is only the reader and led in the outside box

you are correct.

The "outside box" was a blessing. I had no idea what I was going to use to water proof this thing outside. I was at my local home improvement store and just wandered the aisles until this thing popped up in front of my. its a "weather proof gang box" Its intended use is put it over an electrical outlet outside of your home. Once I had all the components inside and had it all working correctly I siliconed the box shut. So I could get it open if I had to, but at the same time...its shut really well - and completely rain proof.

The "outside box" was a blessing. I had no idea what I was going to use to water proof this thing outside. I was at my local home improvement store and just wandered the aisles until this thing popped up in front of my. its a "weather proof gang box" Its intended use is put it over an electrical outlet outside of your home. Once I had all the components inside and had it all working correctly I siliconed the box shut. So I could get it open if I had to, but at the same time...its shut really well - and completely rain proof.

Well I presumed that it was just the reader and the LED but if someone got into it could they send serial down one of the wires or something to get it to open. I presume even if this is the case you would need to know the code to be able to send it so you might as well program your own card.

I presume from this analysis, there is no way someone can electrically 'brute force' open the door that you know of by using the connections that there are outside.

The lock itself is activated trough a solenoid, right?I wonder what'd happen if someone put a really high voltage trough it. Would it blow the entire system up? Would it unlock the door somehow? Or nothing would happen?

Well I presumed that it was just the reader and the LED but if someone got into it could they send serial down one of the wires or something to get it to open. I presume even if this is the case you would need to know the code to be able to send it so you might as well program your own card.

I presume from this analysis, there is no way someone can electrically 'brute force' open the door that you know of by using the connections that there are outside.

Yes if some one opened the outside box and somehow manipulated the rfid reader and figured out which pin was the rx and then some how hooked up to that and then spoof a valid RFID tag that I have in the system...they could gain entry... I suppose...

but for all that the bad guy wouldnt even need to open the outside box...they could just spoof a RFID tag that I have in the system ...then if we explore that even a little further...we could say this is true for ANY of the professional RFID door entry systems out there on the market.

suffice it to say I feel rather safe about it.

Quote

The lock itself is activated trough a solenoid, right?I wonder what'd happen if someone put a really high voltage trough it. Would it blow the entire system up? Would it unlock the door somehow? Or nothing would happen?

Yes. You are correct. the door lock itself is a solenoid. This model of the door lock is a "fail secure" version. that is to say if power is lost or if someone electrically blew it the hell up (which they would need to be inside already to do) it would fail secure. AKA - locked.

Yes if some one opened the outside box and somehow manipulated the rfid reader and figured out which pin was the rx and then some how hooked up to that and then spoof a valid RFID tag that I have in the system...they could gain entry... I suppose...

Yeah that was where my idea failed.You would need a code of an RFID tag. You couldn't just bombard it with random data and it would open..

and also some sort of logging to see time stamps and cards coming and going.

That sounds like a very good plan.SD would be good or maybe an ethernet shield, external logging and access. Maybe some kind of remote locking/unlocking.Someone rings you up cos they don't have a card, you then open the door remotely. Maybe have a network webcam set up on the control page too.

Quote

The next things I would like to add are both lock out times E.G. - card1 only opens the door from 7am-11pm. So card1 could never open the door at 2am.

SD would be good or maybe an ethernet shield, external logging and access. Maybe some kind of remote locking/unlocking.Someone rings you up cos they don't have a card, you then open the door remotely. Maybe have a network webcam set up on the control page too.

Suggestion:Why don't you also store the rfid's onto the sd card, or file on the server, so you can remove single rfid cards.Or you could just make the erase card only erase the next card, like:-Tap erase card on reader-wait for light to change-Tap the card you want to erase (lets call it a) to reader